The final example of a successful written story comes from Lynne Naphtali, commercial director at Accenture (where she is known by her maiden name
‘Storey’ — got to love that name!). This was Lynne’s first blog, and it’s a nice example of a transition story.
Story
Three weeks ago I heard about the very sad and shocking early death of an old colleague, Colin Fulton. The news came completely out of the blue. I cried there and then, standing at the pedestrian crossing on Dandenong Road, on my way into work as I read his obituary. I hadn’t spoken to him for a couple of years and hadn’t worked with him for at least a decade but when I stood there reading his obituary, I realised I’d been thinking about him just a few weeks before and had intended to check in with him as I did every so often.
Colin was our third or fourth client account lead on a troubled account in the UK, where I was working as contract management lead. It was a very tense working environment and we were told that a leader had been flown in from Texas. Having spent a great year at Austin University in Texas, I
formed my own stereotype on the type of tough guy who was being airlifted in to save the day. The state slogan is ‘Don’t mess with Texas’, after all.
I still clearly remember Colin’s first day — in particular, the account
leadership meeting to introduce him to the team. The room was packed and Colin was much more unassuming than I had ever imagined. He sat there with a laid-back smile and spoke in such a soft voice that everyone had to lean forward in their seats to even hear him. I remember being initially dismayed, thinking he didn’t seem to fit in and wondering how long he would last. How could someone so laid-back take control of the account?
Needless to say, Colin went on to impress and inspire us all. He was wise and measured, full of humour and, most of all, a true gentleman and incredibly authentic as a leader. He was a strong leader and was
accountable for the tough calls, but he’d also make the tea and got a kick out of chatting to the analysts, especially if they mistook him for someone more junior.
This was long before I had ever heard of authentic leadership and I didn’t truly appreciate the impact Colin’s style had on me at that time. Looking back, I now realise he was the first senior leader I had seen who seemed comfortable in his skin and who could operate without bluster or
aggression. His inner and outer self appeared to be the same and he could be successful without conforming to any stereotypes or the general tough leadership style of that time.
Reflecting back on this 10 years later, on my cold commute into work, I imagined all the other people who had been impacted by Colin and who had perhaps taken a little piece of that style and confidence with them into their own lives.
As I read the comments left on his obituary page, I realised that he had a profound impact on many of the people who worked with him. He was seen as not just a great leader, but also a mentor and someone who listened before offering advice. Often he’d ask an insightful question that would allow you to talk yourself to your own conclusion.
Although his style impacted me when we worked together in England, I was still very much attuned to the English consulting style of the time, where time was money and personal talk was not really integrated with delivery. In fact, I thought that too much ‘person’ got in the way of success.
Then I became a mum twice in two years and moved continents twice in the same time period. A year later, I found myself back to work in a very
different culture and working environment in Australia. The general style here was much more laid-back and I honestly found that confronting at first.
It took me a while to adjust and to realise that sharing yourself was just as, if not more, impactful in the workplace. With this, and perhaps with
motherhood and a bit more maturity and confidence too, I came to realise that people were a major part of the enjoyment of work for me.
With this brave new realisation that being more ‘visible’, and vulnerable, helps us all grow personally and professionally, I’m putting myself out there
and pledging to share more.
So here I am with my first blog. I’m planning to talk more on topics like this that touch me and I hope you’ll share your thoughts and keep me honest to leading in a way that is authentic to me. I hope that I can go some small way to honouring the immensely impressive life of a very special man and
continue to be the best leader and person I can be.
Outcome
Lynne has received a lot of positive feedback from this blog and story, and believes it has brought her closer to her own team. She says, ‘I now post monthly blogs to my team and have published some blogs externally too.
Telling stories has a ripple effect and I’ve met a lot of ambitious and interesting people through sharing this and other personal stories.’
Lynne also adds,
Each time I write or tell a new story, I try to build on the experience from the last. I refine and reflect in a different way to what I would have done previously. I have a few trusted advisors I can bounce ideas off but in general I think that practice makes telling stories a lot easier and there is plenty of inspiration in our everyday lives to draw from.
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Make your stories work
This completes part II and a range of different examples of stories that have worked in the spoken and written format. In the next part, we look at three organisations that have adopted storytelling into their whole workplace and culture.
What challenges did they face that warranted storytelling? What process did they go through to implement storytelling into their culture? What were the results and the lessons that they learned?